There is a site that contains long gone websites and it has some of this old site's material:
http://web.archive.org/web/
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Site gone
One of my links on the right hand side is no longer available. The Corsham Ref site had some great links and had a plethora of handy referee game cards which are no longer available. Sorry to see them go because in the end what we need is more material and a site like that contained some decent material. Will have to replace the link but for now, don't use it.
There is a site that contains long gone websites and it has some of this old site's material:
http://web.archive.org/web/
There is a site that contains long gone websites and it has some of this old site's material:
http://web.archive.org/web/
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Realization
I have been bombarding you all with posts lately but I feel the need to update this blog as the last couple of years I have been quite busy (and I am now as well but feel that this is a form of therapy to clear the mind to work on something else).
The other day while pondering what matches to take for the upcoming holiday weekend, I came to a realization. The situation boiled down to what to take and how to juggle the other responsibilities of one's life. In this area, Columbus Day tournaments abound. There is a big tournament for WAGS (the girls league I mentioned in a previous post) as well as others. In that WAGS tournament, one of the assignors reached out and asked me if I was willing to do some games and then be part of an academy for referees that weekend as well. At first, I was jumping for joy because it meant a lot of matches, a lot of training and so I told him to sign me up as I was game.
Then I had to do something that I was not going to enjoy. Since my son and my oldest daughter play on that weekend, I was going to have to take one or the other to a series of games (most tournaments guarantee 3 matches per weekend). So I called my mother and asked if she could cover for me if the matches coincided. She said yes and as I was filling out the application for the referee academy, it struck me. I really would rather watch my kids play than ref. I don't think I had had that feeling before. I was actually shocked at myself because of my internal motivations, because I believe that I am a good referee and because I love reffing, but I came to the realization that I love watching my kids play even more.
So I closed out my application, and sent the assignor a message that I was not going to do matches for him. I probably burned part of my bridge with him, but I have to level with myself in that, right now, watching my kids play is right up there with reffing. And that to really move up in the ranks of referees, you really cannot be tied down too much as it is somewhat of a fluid occupation, especially at the grade 6 and above level. Having kids who play every single weekend that I ref makes it that much harder to be good at both. And while my whistle may look at me longingly, I want my kids to be able to say that their father was at almost all of their games even more than I would love for someone to say that I reffed a great game. It is a hard decision and realization but one that I am happy with. This time last year I had reffed double what I have reffed up to now. And you know what, its ok.
The other day while pondering what matches to take for the upcoming holiday weekend, I came to a realization. The situation boiled down to what to take and how to juggle the other responsibilities of one's life. In this area, Columbus Day tournaments abound. There is a big tournament for WAGS (the girls league I mentioned in a previous post) as well as others. In that WAGS tournament, one of the assignors reached out and asked me if I was willing to do some games and then be part of an academy for referees that weekend as well. At first, I was jumping for joy because it meant a lot of matches, a lot of training and so I told him to sign me up as I was game.
Then I had to do something that I was not going to enjoy. Since my son and my oldest daughter play on that weekend, I was going to have to take one or the other to a series of games (most tournaments guarantee 3 matches per weekend). So I called my mother and asked if she could cover for me if the matches coincided. She said yes and as I was filling out the application for the referee academy, it struck me. I really would rather watch my kids play than ref. I don't think I had had that feeling before. I was actually shocked at myself because of my internal motivations, because I believe that I am a good referee and because I love reffing, but I came to the realization that I love watching my kids play even more.
So I closed out my application, and sent the assignor a message that I was not going to do matches for him. I probably burned part of my bridge with him, but I have to level with myself in that, right now, watching my kids play is right up there with reffing. And that to really move up in the ranks of referees, you really cannot be tied down too much as it is somewhat of a fluid occupation, especially at the grade 6 and above level. Having kids who play every single weekend that I ref makes it that much harder to be good at both. And while my whistle may look at me longingly, I want my kids to be able to say that their father was at almost all of their games even more than I would love for someone to say that I reffed a great game. It is a hard decision and realization but one that I am happy with. This time last year I had reffed double what I have reffed up to now. And you know what, its ok.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Why the name?
The other day I received an email from someone regarding the naming convention of the blog. So let me peel back a little bit of the info of what makes me who I am. I work in the IT field for my Monday to Friday job. In that world, you sometime have to use software applications to help you figure out what type of machine you are dealing with. In the early days of my IT career, I used to use an application called a port scanner that allowed you to figure out what was on the other side of a network connection. So for example, if I were scanning a server and I saw port 1433 and 1434 open, I knew it was a Microsoft SQL server. If ports 135, 137, etc were open, it was possibly just a PC, etc. The one I used the most was one called Yet Another Port Scanner (YAPS for short) which had been named because it was not the first one but it was a darned good one. So when I had to come up with a name for this blog, I had seen that I was not the first soccer referee to begin blogging about his experience in the trenches, hence the name Yet Another Soccer Referee.
Here is the link to what is now YAPS:
http://www.steelbytes.com/?mid=19
Anyway, as they say, and the rest is history. But now if you want to use a port scanner, I normally rely on Angry IP, though I have to admit I have not had to port scan in a while.
Here is the link to what is now YAPS:
http://www.steelbytes.com/?mid=19
Anyway, as they say, and the rest is history. But now if you want to use a port scanner, I normally rely on Angry IP, though I have to admit I have not had to port scan in a while.
Recert
I have to figure out how to change my profile as I just realized that it said that I was an 8 going for a 7. Well, actaully now I am a 7, trying to maintain a 7, so out of date for a bit.
As for the actual recert this weekend, boy were there a lot of questions related to kicks from the mark and if someone were to get hurt while participating in them. Too many questions related to that. Other than that, it was an interesting class. A little about the new dropped ball rule (can't score on the first touch of a dropped ball, either one way or another). Some expansion with the advantage rule, to include things like double touch that rolls to an opposing attacker who has a clear 1 on 1 with the keeper is not penalized but rather given an advantage.
In general I liked the class, and was happy to get a 93 in the State exam. For some reason here in Virginia we lump all the 8, 7, 6 and 5s into one class and then to make things easy for the instructors, they hand out exams that are for the state (6 and 5). Still, it was a lot of questioning on proper restarts, etc. And as always, the notorious shin guard thrown at the striker.
The funniest one was where an attacker named Fred is on a 1 on 1 towards the keeper, a defender trailing the play yells at him, Hey Fred, and he is startled and loses the ball. What do you do to the defender. Even though it is not a true "foul" it is a red card for denying the goal scoring opportunity. I originally did not think that was the case, but it is according to the instructors. All in all, a good class.
And the physical was like it was last year. I run faster since there are other people that help me pace myself, so it is easier to do those than when I run and practice at home. So one more year as a 7 if I pass my maintenance assessment match...that is this month, so we shall see.
As for the actual recert this weekend, boy were there a lot of questions related to kicks from the mark and if someone were to get hurt while participating in them. Too many questions related to that. Other than that, it was an interesting class. A little about the new dropped ball rule (can't score on the first touch of a dropped ball, either one way or another). Some expansion with the advantage rule, to include things like double touch that rolls to an opposing attacker who has a clear 1 on 1 with the keeper is not penalized but rather given an advantage.
In general I liked the class, and was happy to get a 93 in the State exam. For some reason here in Virginia we lump all the 8, 7, 6 and 5s into one class and then to make things easy for the instructors, they hand out exams that are for the state (6 and 5). Still, it was a lot of questioning on proper restarts, etc. And as always, the notorious shin guard thrown at the striker.
The funniest one was where an attacker named Fred is on a 1 on 1 towards the keeper, a defender trailing the play yells at him, Hey Fred, and he is startled and loses the ball. What do you do to the defender. Even though it is not a true "foul" it is a red card for denying the goal scoring opportunity. I originally did not think that was the case, but it is according to the instructors. All in all, a good class.
And the physical was like it was last year. I run faster since there are other people that help me pace myself, so it is easier to do those than when I run and practice at home. So one more year as a 7 if I pass my maintenance assessment match...that is this month, so we shall see.
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